From Handshakes to Backstabs: Trump’s Flip on India
Certain historical events repeat themselves, first as comedy and then as farce. US President Donald Trump embodies both. On July 30, the former reality TV star-turned-tariff enforcer imposed a 25 percent economic shock on Indian exports, while falsely claiming to have brokered peace between India and Pakistan. Trump has involved Islamabad in a conflict to undermine New Delhi. His economic aggression serves his own interests rather than those of the US. Trump is appealing to Pakistani oil drillers and cryptocurrency groups, enriching himself through pipelines and payment systems that avoid scrutiny. His wealth has increased by $600 million in a year, while his ethics have deteriorated. This unscrupulous behavior comes from a man who once warmly welcomed Narendra Modi in a grand event filled with dollar-rich NRIs, calling him a 'true friend' and 'great leader.' Subsequently, the transactional Trump has allied with Pakistan, which hosts terror camps. Behind his orange facade and Make America Great Again rhetoric is a man motivated not by ethics but by money to expand his questionable empire.
His alliance with Pakistan’s General Syed Asim Munir Ahmad Shah is a well-planned conspiracy disguised as cowardice that is pushing India back into old nightmares. Remember 1971, when Richard Nixon sent the formidable aircraft carrier USS Enterprise to intimidate India during the Bangladesh war? Indira Gandhi did not even blink. India did not bow down and history remembers those who stood their ground. This time, history is being repeated not as a spectacle, but as a warning. Trump is Nixon in a red tie, siding with Islamabad again. The only difference this time is that the US is standing by Pakistan with tariffs and tweets, but India, then and now, refuses to give in. Trump's betrayal is a double-edged sword.
His tariff missile, fired last week, targets India's $87 billion worth of exports to the US, its biggest trading partner, threatening an estimated $7 billion in losses. The President justified it by citing India's 70 per cent duty on US motorcycles and a 12 per cent trade-weighted tariff. He has called India a "big abuser" eight times since February 2025 and described it as a "dead economy" along with Russia. Trump also fabricated a story that India had stopped buying oil from Russia. He falsely claimed that India offered a "no tariff deal", which S. Jaishankar denied. "Deals have to be mutually beneficial." The new tariff arrangement shatters the trust built since 2017, when Modi and Trump forged a strong relationship marked by Modi's warm embrace at the White House, Trump's 2020 "Namaste Trump" event in Ahmedabad and Modi's US visits marked by mutual admiration. Bilateral trade will rise to $120 billion by 2024.
At the last meeting between Trump and Modi in February, the Indian Prime Minister offered tariff cuts to avoid reciprocal sanctions and set a trade target of $500 billion by 2030. But Trump’s subsequent lies about a ceasefire during Operation Sindoor, preventing a ‘nuclear war’ and fabricated claims of ‘shooting down five jets’ humiliated India while defending Pakistan. Moreover, Trump hosted Munir at the White House, where he boasted, “I prevented a nuclear war.” Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri promptly responded: “Modi told Trump there was no US mediation.”
The US President is telling tall lies about “making” peace between India and Pakistan but he has done nothing of the sort. As Modi said in a historic 20-hour debate in the Lok Sabha, “India’s action in Operation Sindoor was not dictated by any foreign leader.” The truth is that India itself planned the strikes. Terror camps operated from Pakistan were destroyed. Modi looked like a warrior from the modern Mahabharata, flanked by righteous Jaishankar and aggressive Rajnath. He highlighted how Pakistan came crawling after India’s missiles destroyed nine terror camps and sent 100 terrorists to hell. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi mumbled and accused Modi of humility but looked goofy. “If Modi has even a little of Indira Gandhi’s courage, he should call Trump a liar,” he quipped. Modi did not call him a liar, but lit him up like Diwali, pointing out how Vice President JD Vance’s veiled warnings were ignored. Jaishankar blasted Trump's trade fantasy claims and said - no connection, no influence, no lie can survive. Praising the precise strikes, Rajnath said - we avenged the Pahalgam massacre in 22 minutes. When Modi was marching with the soldiers, the Congress collapsed holding on to Trump's fairy tales. DMK's Kanimozhi admitted that the opposition 'ignored the bravery of our soldiers'. While Modi's team stuck to its point in Parliament, Yogi Adityanath thundered in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly - India's markets are for allies, not for attackers.
President Trump's retaliatory tariffs are a double blow aimed at India's $1.4 trillion market and leadership of the global south. Modi's vision of 'Developed India by 2047' demands autonomy, not subordination. According to UNCTAD, Trump's tariffs will push developing countries towards regional relations. India's diverse exports like pharmaceuticals and apparel may move towards Asia and Europe.
Trump's attempt could trigger a backlash in the global south, with India leading the BRICS against US hegemony. India is not alone, BRICS is emerging, ASEAN is watching and Europe is rebalancing. If Trump persists, India could deepen BRICS ties, making him regret losing a key ally. Trump's tariff maneuver is a double entendre wrapped in diplomatic tug-of-war. He argues that India imposes 'high tariffs' on Harleys and Hams. Trump's claim of being a billionaire has boosted his brand but damaged his relations with India, Japan, Canada and even NATO. His lies and tariffs betray a friend while strengthening his empire. His economic expansionism by imposing 25-40 per cent tariffs on 14 countries and threatening BRICS is more beneficial to him than to the US. Trump’s adventurism could also weaken the international cabal of US-backed academics, bureaucrats, corporate tycoons and elite social activists that influence key economic and strategic decisions in different countries. Trump’s posturing, profiteering and outright lies mark him not as a guardian of democracy but as a global bully. It is not America First, it is Trump First. His courting of Pakistan gives a new impetus to terror networks. It revives the strategy of the 1970s. Isolate India, cultivate friendship with Islamabad and pretend to be peacemakers. But contemporary India is not a weak country. It is a $3.9 trillion economy, the world’s largest democracy and a cornerstone of the Global South. The message to Washington must be that India will not be lured, bought or intimidated. If the President wants to play Nixon’s ‘POTUS’, India will once again play Modi’s ‘David’, armed not with a slingshot but with economic might, diplomatic tenacity and strategic alliances beyond the US purview.
Under Modi, India stands firm and unflinching. With its 1.4 billion consumers and $120 billion in trade, India demands respect. Modi’s parliamentary victory proves India’s resolve. It will vanquish a bully whose treachery threatens global stability. So go ahead, Mr Trump, play Nixon. Play your petty games in Scotland and Islamabad but don’t forget, India’s memory is long. India resists and India will rise. When the dust settles, the world will see who was a true friend and who a traitor.